Up with People Meets Pulpo

Five-of-Six slaps on a morphine patch. We have a nice chat on the way to the show. She drinks Pepsi, eats candy, smokes cigarettes. By the time the show starts, she is twitching all over.

* * *

Brandon from Texas comes over to our box to say hello. He's in the show. Until last December he was a basketball player. Then he was injured, so he joined Up with People.

Come again?

In the off season, he dances for Disney.

* * *

The curtain rises, the dancing begins. They're dancing in couples, something energetic, nothing special.

Hey, wait, what was that?

A boy and a girl kick up their heels. They intertwine legs, her ankle behind his knee, he likewise to her. Legs straight, a bridge between them, posture perfect and right on the beat, they hop on one foot in a circle, until he stands where she was and vice-versa.

El Pulpo, eat your heart out.

* * *

There's a young woman from Tucson who sings like a Hispanic Aretha.

Like all of the rest, she's squeaky clean. Very up. Very Disney. And still she sings like Aretha.

When she finishes her song, there's silence before the applause, the pause that tells you how good she is.

Into the silence, Five-of-Six speaks. Loudly.

Dang! she says.

* * *

I am a sap. I had tears in my eyes. A couple of times. Stood and clapped and sang along with the crowd: Up, up with people ... !

* * *

And here's the birthday surprise: All of the door is donated to Habitat for Humanity, my favorite charity!

How's that for a gift that turns on itself, and then turns again?

That's how Five-of-Six does it.